More Than I Bargained For - A Brian Quinn Fan fiction
by poppykia
Summary: Lilly has been working as a children's nurse just outside the quaint village she grew up when she decided she wanted a change. She had always said once she had qualified she would love the chance to move abroad and decided now was her time so left home to go to New York. She knew good things were coming her way but she didn't know just how good they would be.


I woke to the sound of my alarm filling the bedroom. I rolled over, rubbing my eyes, to turn it off. _How can it already be 5am, I feel like I only went to bed an hour ago? _I sat up on the edge of the bed, pulling on whatever I could find off the floor to keep me warm. I shuffled through to the bathroom and splashed my face with cold water in a vague attempt to wake myself up before work. My phone buzzed from the bedroom, breaking my still half-asleep daze. I went through to see who was messaging me at this time of day. I smiled as I looked at the screen, it was a message from my mum. _**Good morning, how are you? I looked on the news and saw the snow's bad today in New York, I don't know if it's anywhere near you now that you've moved to a new house but please be careful. I love you, mum.**_I'd been gone for nearly a year now and the messages had become less frequent but stillas caring as ever. I replied, _**Morning, mum, it's fine don't worry, I can deal with a bit of snow, after all I have English blood, I'll message you later when I'm home from work. I love you too.**_

I placed my phone on my bedside table and went through to the kitchen to get myself a coffee and some breakfast. I absentmindedly started pouring myself a bowl of cereal as I was pondering what today might have in store for me. I absolutely loved my job and as much as I complained sometimes about the stress and upset, I would not give it up or change it for anything. I'd wanted to be a nurse for as long as I could remember and now, aged 26, I'd been living my dream for the past five years. The first four back at home with the comfort and support of my family and friends but about a year ago I decided to take the plunge and move, to a different continent. As much as I loved the little village where I lived, I wanted more, I wanted some excitement and staying in England just wasn't going to do it for me. I remember the day I told my mum and stepdad I was moving out and I also remember the looks on their faces when I told them I was moving to New York. As much as they said they were happy for me and would support me, I could see the heartbreak in their eyes, knowing I wouldn't be going to sleep and waking up in my childhood bedroom anymore.

I sat down on the couch and flicked the TV on whilst I ate. Nothing good on, as per usual. I quickly ate my breakfast and drank my coffee and then went through to my bedroom to get dressed. It was freezing outside so I pulled on some thermals and then a nice chunky knit jumper and some joggers. I threw my uniform and everything else in my handbag and made my way outside to my car. I got in and put the heating on as soon as I sat down, fearing that if I didn't, I'd lose feeling in my fingers and toes. I turned on the radio and attempted to get off my driveway, even though my car wasn't the best I was hoping she wouldn't let me down. I was wrong, she let me down majorly. I couldn't believe it.

"Are you fucking kidding me?" I almost screamed to myself, completely forgetting just how early it was and that most of my neighbours would probably still be asleep. I put my head in my hands, not quite sure what to do. I sighed heavily and turned around to the sound of a door shutting at the house next to mine.  
"Erm, hi, is uh is everything alright out here?"  
I looked, not quite sure if the shaggy looking stranger was talking to me or not. I stood there and just looked at him, dumbfounded.  
"Miss, are you okay? I heard someone shouting and thought I should come check."  
"Hi, yes, hi. Oh my god, I'm so sorry did I wake you up? I completely forgot how early it is and I just had a meltdown because my piece of shit car can't cope with the snow and I have no idea how I'm going to get to work now." I ranted on, motioning towards my car to emphasise my point.  
"Oh my, you're English," the man in front of me said with a smile. "And obviously in need of a ride, I can take you?"  
"Oh no, it's fine, I couldn't ask you to do that and apart from anything I have no idea who the hell you are, you might try to cut me into pieces and store me in your freezer for all I know."  
He laughed slightly and held his hand out.  
"First of all you didn't ask me I offered, secondly I'm Brian and I'm going out on a limb here but I think you're my new neighbour and lastly, my freezer is full, I couldn't get you in there even if I wanted to."  
I pondered for a second, placing my hand in his and shaking it.  
"Okay, you have a point there you did offer. Nice to meet you Brian, yes I am your new neighbour, I'm Lilly," I paused a second and placed my hand in my pocket to try warm it up. "Are you sure you wouldn't mind giving me a lift? I wouldn't normally accept from someone I don't know because I wouldn't want to be a burden on them but I really can't be late today."  
"Nah it's not a problem at all, where do you work?"  
" I work at Staten Island University Hospital."  
He looked at me, mouth slightly ajar.  
"What? Why you looking at me like that?" I asked, slightly confused.  
"No reason, sorry, let me just run in and grab my car keys and we'll head off." 

I grabbed my stuff from the passenger seat of my car, put my handbag over my shoulder and walked over to Brian's car.  
"Let's go!" He stated enthusiastically as he came back outside and unlocked the car door.  
"I really appreciate this, like really do, thank you so much," I said as we both got into his red Jeep. I placed my bag between my feet and pulled my phone out to check the time, I still had 45 minutes until my shift started, plenty of time.  
"Don't worry about it, my Ma would be disappointed if she knew I'd left a damsel in distress to fend for herself."  
"Sounds like you were brought up well, makes a nice change." I retorted.  
"Woah," he said. "There's a story behind that remark."  
"I grew up in England, if you didn't go to a posh school you didn't generally meet people that were brought up well."  
"So, did you go to a posh school then?" He asked, sounding almost sarcastic.  
"Actually, no, but there's always an exception to the rule isn't there?"  
"That there is, you make a fair point," he checked his satnav to see which way he needed to go.  
"Anyway, you never told me what it is you do, I know where you work but I don't know what you do."  
"I'm a children's nurse."  
"That's hot." He whispered to himself, almost unaware that he had said it out loud. I looked over and saw that his cheeks were now the same colour as his Jeep. I put my hand up to my mouth and stifled a laugh, not wanting to add to his embarrassment.  
"What do you do then, I told you what I do it's only fair I know what you do."  
He glanced over at me for a second and smiled. I could see almost a sense of relief in his eyes and I was slightly confused.  
"Well, I work with my friends from high school, we do this show called Impractical Jokers, we basically just try and embarrass each other by making one another do stupid stuff to members of the public."  
"Wait what, you're on TV? I'm in a TV star's car? I'm in a famous person's car and I had literally no idea, god I'm so dense sometimes."  
"Dense," he asked, sounding confused. "What the hell do you mean? Dense like a cake?"  
I laughed, this always happened, I still used so much slang from back home that I found myself often having to explain myself.  
"No, in this context dense means thick, like if you do or say something stupid you'd call yourself dense."  
"Right, I like that, I'll have to remember that one. I'll have to start calling the guys dense, they'll have no idea what I'm on about."

My phone buzzed, it was a text from Kelsey at work. _**Hey hun, are you okay? You're normally here by now and I haven't heard anything so just checking in! X**_. I replied straight away. _**Hey girl, sorry had a bit of a crappy morning, I'll explain when I get there, see you in a few Xx**_.  
"Nearly there, be another couple of minutes." Brian told me.  
"Thanks Brian, really thank you so much, I owe you big time. Let me know how I can repay you and I'll happy oblige."  
"You're more than welcome Lilly, honestly it's no bother. But," he said and paused for a second. "If you really want to repay me, I mean, I guess if you wanted you could give me your number?"  
"Yes," I blurted out without even thinking. "Of course, you can have my number."  
He handed his phone over to me and I put my number in and passed it back over. He placed it on the dashboard while he parked and then stopped the car.  
"Here we are, what time you working till then?"  
"I'm here until 7pm, long day ahead of me today, lovely."  
"Ah right okay," he placed one hand in his hair and scratched his head. "Would you need picking up after your shift? And before you say you couldn't ask me to, you didn't, I offered again."  
"I mean, if you're sure, that'd be such a big help, thank you."  
"Sure thing, I'll see you tonight. Have a good day at work."  
"Thanks." I said as I closed the door.

I began walking into the hospital and turned around to wave goodbye to him as he drove off, he waved back and smiled as he did. I grabbed my phone out of my bag and messaged Kelsey. _**Hey girl, I'm literally just walking in now, I'll be up in 2 minutes, I need to tell you something. Xx**_. She replied almost instantly. _**Okay, I'll see you soon, everything okay? X**_. I put my phone in my bag and went up to the changing room to get my uniform on. I smiled as I got changed and then proceeded to make my way up to the Pediatric Unit to meet Kelsey.  
"There you are," she said as she hugged me. "I was real worried, it's not like you to not be here for our morning chat on time."  
"I know, I'm so sorry, I couldn't get my car off the drive with all the snow, bloody nightmare."  
We made our way into the staff room and Kelsey sat down as I made us both a coffee.  
"How did you get here then?" She asked as I handed her a drink.  
"My neighbour heard me shouting and came out to see if everything was alright and ended up offering me a lift in."  
"Aw that's sweet."  
"Yeah," I smirked as I replied. "It was sweet of him."  
"What's that look for?" Kelsey asked, probing for an answer.  
"If I tell you something you have to promise to believe me and more importantly not tell anyone what I'm about to say."  
"Okay," she practically squealed, Kelsey loved some gossip. "I swear it!"  
"Right, have you seen this show called Impractical Jokers?"  
"Oh my god, I love that show, why?"  
"Well it turns out the neighbour that came out and gave me a lift is one of the guys from it."  
"Shut up, shut up! Oh my god which one? Was it Sal, is Sal your neighbour?"  
"No, first of all calm down Kels or you'll have a heart attack. It's Brian."  
Kelsey took another sip of coffee and then placed her mug on the table looking me up and down.  
"What?" I asked her almost laughing.  
"Nothing, just you do realise a celebrity brought you to work today?"  
"Yes, I'm fully aware of that, and, said celebrity asked me for my phone number before he left too."  
"Oh my god, no way!" She clapped her hands and practically jumped out of her seat. "Lilly, you've been in New York not even a year and you've already had a TV star hit on you, I can't…"  
"He wasn't hitting on me, he was helping me out." I interrupted, correcting her.  
"Lilly, you're an intelligent woman so stop being so stupid, he asked you for your number, why would he ask you for it if he didn't want to do more than just help you out?"  
"Well, I'm not reading into it, c'mon we best get a move on, report will be starting soon."

We finished our drinks and made our way through to the ward to see who our patients for the day would be and get report on them before our shift started. I had five patients, enough to keep me busy but not so much that I'd have an overly stressful day. I went round and introduced myself to the children I'd be looking after, one of them I already knew from when she'd been in previously.  
"Lilly, we're so glad you're our nurse today, Ava got upset when you weren't in yesterday." Ava's mum said as I walked into her cubicle.  
"Aw, I'm sorry sweetie," I said as I crouched down to meet Ava's eye level.  
"I'm here today though and I promise we'll have fun drawing some pictures and stuff like we did last time, okay?"  
Ava nodded and smiled up at me, she was obviously still tired so I left her to go back to sleep for a while.  
"Let me know if you need anything Mrs. Peters." I said as I began to walk towards the door.  
"Lilly, I tell you every time we're here, call me Rachel. No need to be so formal with me."  
"Sorry, force of habit." I say with a smile as I leave the room.

I went over and sat down at the nurses' station and looked through my patients' records, making notes of what I would need to do throughout the day, when I felt my phone vibrate in my pocket. I pulled it out and saw a text from an unknown number. I looked over my shoulder for Kelsey and quietly called her over.  
"Kelsey," I whisper-shouted. "He's messaged me."  
She looked over to me and put her finger up and motioned towards the patient she was talking to. I didn't open it until Kelsey was done and came over to me.  
"What did he say?" She asked as she came and stood at the desk I was sat at.  
"I have no clue; I haven't opened it yet." I pulled my phone out my pocket and placed it face up on the desk.  
"Open it, the suspense is killing me here, I need to know what he said."  
I picked my phone up and unlocked it and opened the message from Brian. _**It was nice to meet you this morning, hope work isn't too bad today, I'll see you later to come pick you up, let me know when you're finished, Q :)**_.  
"Q, what does that mean?" I turned my phone to Kelsey as I asked.  
"That's his nickname, it's what he and the other guys call him on the show."  
"Why though?" I questioned, still confused.  
"His last name is Quinn, so he calls himself Q."  
"Ah okay, I see. Should I reply now or does that look too desperate?"  
"Why are you worried about sounding desperate," she raised her eyebrows at me and rested her elbows on the desk. "I thought you weren't reading into this?" She teased.  
"No, like, I'm not I just don't want him thinking bad of me or thinking I only want to reply because of who he is or anything like that. And, he's kinda cute too so that's putting even more pressure on me." My cheeks warmed and I felt stupid as soon as I'd said it but I couldn't take it back now.  
"Oh my god you're adorable, and so agonisingly English, just text him back already."  
I opened the message again and typed out my reply. _**It was nice to meet you too, thanks again I really do appreciate you helping me out. I should officially finish at 7 but it'll probably be more like half past. Lilly**_.  
"Is this okay?" I asked Kelsey before I sent it. She didn't even reply she just grabbed the phone and hit send.  
"I'm sure it was fine." She said as she handed my phone back.  
"Kels! Are you kidding me, why did you do that?"  
"Oh calm down, and go look after your patients, slacker, it'll distract you."  
"Cheeky bitch, you're worse than me! We going on break together today?"  
"Yeah course, I'll speak at lunch, you'll have to catch me up."  
She walked off to the bay she was working in and I did the same, trying to get a bit of a head start on my jobs, hoping I'd be able to get off shift on time for a change.

My day was dragging, I kept looking up at the clock thinking an hour had passed when in reality only five minutes had. Maybe I was just eager to see Brian again? I sat thinking about him while I was filling in some paperwork when a tap on my shoulder interrupted me. I looked up and saw Kelsey stood over me holding a sandwich and some snacks.  
"You ready for lunch, hun?"  
"Yeah, I'll just finish this off, I'll be through in 2 minutes, save me a seat."  
"Will do."  
I finished up my paperwork and grabbed my food and went through to the staff room and sat down across the table from Kelsey.  
"Has he text you anymore?" She asked whilst taking a bite out of her sandwich.  
"I honestly haven't checked my phone all morning. I think I'm a bit nervous about him messaging me really."  
"Do you want me to look for you, pass me you cell phone."  
I took my phone out my pocket and handed it over to her.  
"You have three texts, one from you mom,"  
"Mum," I corrected her. "I may live here now but I still speak The Queen's English."  
Kelsey rolled her eyes at me.  
"Fine, one from your MUM and two from your knight in shining armour."  
"What's he said?"  
She handed me the phone and I read the messages smiling to myself. _**Hi Lilly, I'll swing by the hospital at about quarter past? So if you do get done on time you won't be waiting too long to get home and if you get done late I won't be waiting around too long. I'll see you later, Q :)**_.  
I opened the second one and couldn't help but laugh as I read it. _**That last part came out wrong, I wouldn't mind waiting an hour if I had to, I know what I mean, I'm a bit of an idiot when it comes to having to write things down. I'll speak later, Q :)**_. I typed a message out in response and hit send. _**Don't worry about it, I'm the same, I'll see you this evening. **_  
"Well, what did he say? What did you say?"  
"Give me a second, Kels, I need to reply to my mum too."  
I read the message from her, I could hear the way she'd say it in my head as I did. _**I'd forgotten you were at work today sweetie, hope you have a nice shift and it's not too busy. I'm so proud of you, as is John and you know your dad would be too. He'd be so jealous of you right now, he'd have loved to have been able to even visit New York never mind live there. Are we still okay to Skype call you this weekend? Love you so much, Mum. **_I finished my food and replied to her. _**It's fine, I don't expect you to remember every shift I have. Thanks mum, knowing I'm making you both proud motivates me to do even better and try achieve more. It's honestly amazing, I love it so much, you and John will have to fly out to visit some time when you can! Of course you are, I have the whole weekend off so let me know when is good for you and we'll sort something. **_

"Has someone said the dreaded word," I asked no one and everyone at the same time after I got back from lunch. "It's manic here now, like I'm on a different ward."  
"Oh god I know, the night workers are going to have fun tonight." Said Sophia, another one of the nurses working today.  
"Don't I feel so bad for them, I'm just glad I'm off tomorrow I'll tell you that for free."  
"Me too, you got much planned or just the usual sleeping and eating when you can actually drag yourself out of bed."  
"Just the usual, I'd have to receive a pretty good offer to persuade me to do something on a day off."  
The only good thing about the afternoon being so busy was the fact that it felt like it flew by, I looked at the time on my phone and before I knew it, it was 5pm. Only 2 hours left.

"Is Kelsey okay today," Sophia asked as she walked over to me. "She seems extra giddy, like someone has plugged her in to charge up or something."  
"Oh yeah she's fine, she's just eager to know what happens tonight after work."  
"Is she doing something exciting?" Sophia enquired filing some paperwork away.  
"No, my neighbour is giving me a lift home," Sophie looked at me, one eyebrow raised. "You can't say anything, but my neighbour is Brian Quinn..."  
"From Impractical Jokers?" She whispered interrupting me.  
"Yes, the very one, he kinda saved my ass earlier when I couldn't get my car off the drive and he's picking me up when I'm done tonight."  
"Your secret is safe with me gal, get yourself off on time for a change you always stay late and you have a reason to leave early tonight."  
"But…"  
"No buts, you're going on time, me and Kels will look after you patients between us for half an hour."  
"You're an angel, Sophia."  
I grabbed my phone out my pocket and sent Brian a message. _**Hey, just letting you know, I'm actually getting out of here on time for a change, see you at 7?**_  
_**Sure thing, see you in an hour! Q :)**_

Oh shit, this afternoon had really flew by, where had the time gone. I got butterflies at the thought of knowing I was going to see him again so soon. _Grow up Lilly, you've only known the guy for like 12 hours, you're acting like a schoolgirl who's gotten her first crush._ A tugging at my trouser leg broke my thoughts. I looked down to see what, or who it was. It was Ava, trying her best to get my attention.  
"Well hello there sweetie, what're you doing?" I asked as I picked her up and placed her on my hip.  
"I drew you a picture!"  
"You did? What of?"  
She presented me with a piece of paper covered in scribbles and every colour you could possibly imagine.  
"Oh it's beautiful." I said, not even the slightest idea what I was supposed to be looking at.  
"No silly, you're holding it upside down," she grabbed the picture off me and shoved it in my face the right way up.  
"It's you!" She exclaimed.  
"Well of course it is, it's perfect!"  
"Promise me you'll keep it forever."  
"I promise," I said as I began walking back to her room with her. "I'm afraid it's time for me to go home now sweetie so I'll see you another day."  
"Aww, but you're my favourite I don't like it when you're not here."  
"I'm sorry, but I have to go home to sleep so I'm not tired and can look after you properly, I'll see you in a couple of days."  
"Okay." She protested as I opened the door to her room.  
"Hi Rachel, just dropping Ava the artist back off before I go home. I'm not in tomorrow but I'll see you again on Wednesday."  
"Okay, thanks for today, and every day you're here really."  
"Oh you don't have to thank me it's what I'm here for," I looked across at the clock. "Sorry, I hate to be rude but I have to get off, they're actually letting me leave on time for once."  
"No need to apologise, you get yourself off home and relax, we'll see you Wednesday."  
I left the cubicle and shut the door behind me. Sophia looked over at me and tapped her wrist and mouthed and exaggerated "go" to me. I nodded and grabbed my bags to go get changed before I went home. I got my clothes from earlier back on and checked my phone. I had a message from Brian. _**I'm here, in the spot I was in earlier, see you in a sec, Q :)**_. I got a surge of butterflies in my stomach as I walked out the doors and saw his red Jeep. I waved over at him and he waved back at me then leaned over to open the door for me to get in.  
"Evening," he said with a wicked smile. "Good day?"  
"Hey, yeah it was good thanks, how was yours?"  
"I can't moan really, I mean when your day starts well it generally sets the tone for the rest of it I find."


End file.
